"4 spicy polish, please!"

Last night, gerg and I headed over to Elliot Ave off of East 38th Street to feed Susan, the cat, for Paula and John during their scuba-diving escapade in South America.

On our way there, we passed a little market called "Everett's Foods - Meats" on E 38th St. The window had large, round, hand-made signs advertising "Lefse and Lingonberries!", "Smoked Salmon!", "Pumpkins - many sizes!" Since I wanted to buy some more carving pumpkins for a late night carve session, I asked gerg if we could stop at Everett's on the way back to our place. Plus, it was right next to this old-fashioned candy shop, but I'll get to that later.

Even upon getting out of the car in front of the store (parking was TOO easy), I could smell smoked pork chop wafting from the shop. Once we entered the small market, it became apparent that these folks knew meat. The aroma was of spicy sausages and bacon. We were looking for some fresh Italian pork sausage for a ragu I was fixin' to whip up for gerg's spaghetti dinner. We asked a butcher behind the counter (Jack?), who was very pleased with our request, "Oh, we just put some in the freezer, but it's very fresh, probably not even frozen yet!" The 6'3" blond, moutached, butcher-apron clad gentleman walked us over to the freezer case and proclaimed, "This will be perfect for your sauce. See, it has barely begun to freeze yet. Very fresh!"

Sausages, brisket, thick cut New York strip with the bone in, and every kind of sliced meat loaf and wurst you could want. Now, some of you will scoff, knowing that the only meat I eat is seafood and fish. I enjoy cooking meat; I cook meat for friends and family routinely, and I inquire about texture, consistency, moisture and flavor. Gerg said the Italian pork sausage was out of site, and I have no reason to doubt it. The people who walked up to that butcher knew the place and knew what they wanted. "4 spicy polish, please!" By-the-by, the pumpkins I bought were easy to carve and packed full of seeds, which Dre will be salting and baking soon.

Great service. Great-lookin meats. Great-tastin', according to gerg.Everett's Foods - Meats 1833 East 38th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407 (612) 729-6626I looked for an url, but found only a couple of ">reviews of Everett's.

I like this one: "Everett's certainly did us right. We got a 10 lb brisket @ 3.98/lb and I can't complain. It was perfect. If you want to talk meat, be sure to speak to Jack. The young pups don't know 'deckle' from 'schmeckle'. I have yet to have a bad cut of meat from these folks - and I am uberpicky." by teamkitty

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Now, about that candy!! Right next to Everett's, The Candy Jar, specializing in the hand-made stuff, enticed us with a billboard about coconut haystacks and caramel apples. We skipped in and purchased some treats for later, mostly from the chocolate case. Plus, we enjoyed free samples of fudge and jelly bellies while we waited for the adorable, wish-she-was-your-grandma, sweetie behind the counter to fill our order. We didn't spot any caramel apples, to my dismay, and then witnessed a interesting interaction.

She: "No caramel apples today?" wish-she-was-your-grandma: "No, they're all gone and the new ones didn't come in yet."She: "Awe NUTS!"wish-she-was-your-grandma: "Tomorrow, they should be ready."

Apparently, they can't keep their caramel apples on the shelf! My dark chocolate dipped fairy food melted in my mouth. Gerg got a "grizzly" , which was basically a turtle turned inside out. A little messy, but very tasty, and the caramel must have been made with pure butter.